Ronin Killings
by kaerra
Summary: Gotta change that title. Anyway, mysterious deaths are occurring in Kagome's time; what, Kagome senses a strange presence, maybe even a shikon shard? Inuyasha-tachi fight in modern Tokyo! Normal pairings IY/Kagome Miroku/Sango; humor/action ch.1 revised!


Author's Note: Wow, I'm actually doing this. No way. ^_^ Well, I'm not exactly sure where this one will end up, but at least it will be fun (I hope)! My knowledge of Japanese isn't all that great, so the list of translations at the bottom of the page will probably be pretty small. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first attempt of mine. Reviews are my friends! You get the point! ^_^ Ugh, brain is fried, final paper is due tomorrow, paper has not been started in lieu of this IY fic. Bad bad Kaerra. Anyway, thanks for reading my first fanfic attempt, and please let me know what could be changed and/or made better! Arigatou, minna! -- Kaerra  
  
3/20/02  
  
Updated chapter 1! Special thanks to Aino and Sango-sama for catching all the errors I made in my IY lore and with my usage of Japanese. This reads so much better now. Wai! Anyway, my final paper is due Friday (and of course I'm ignoring it to work on this story instead, lol), so this weekend I will try and put up chapter 2, along with something new that's been spinning around in my head for a while… heh heh heh. Anyway, PLEASE review! I will cry without reviews!!! I will have Kikyo get together with Inuyasha if people don't review (don't make me do it… I HATE Inu/Kikyo pairing!)  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasha-tachi belong to the great Takahashi Rumiko. I am merely borrowing. I am also a poor college student, so please don't sue me. peers furtively at darkened corners for lawyers bearing injunction papers O_O'  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Omen of the Future  
  
"Konnichi wa, Mama!" Higurashi Kagome called out, opening the door to her family's home. It felt so good to be home again. Had a whole week elapsed since her last return? Two? She was sorry to say she couldn't remember the last time she'd been back.  
  
"Konnichi wa, Kagome!" surprised, but happy, her mother turned around from the kitchen sink. She set the batch of shitake mushrooms she'd been cleaning aside and rushed forward to embrace her daughter.  
  
"Onee-chan!" Souta, Kagome's younger brother, raced into the kitchen and quickly joined in the hug.  
  
Kagome smiled, indulging in the warmth of her family's love. Lately she'd felt like she didn't deserve it. How could she do well by them when she was never home? Even her grouchy old grandfather had taken to making up excuses for her absence (not that she liked many of them… but she did have his support).  
  
"Kagome, you picked the perfect day to come home!" Souta beamed up at her.  
  
"Oh really?" she asked, stepping out of her mother's embrace. "What's up?"  
  
"I came in first in my kendo competition today!" Souta's chin rose with pride.  
  
"That's wonderful, Souta!" Kagome exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.  
  
If only I had come home sooner… an unbidden thought crossed her mind. I could have been there to see it.  
  
Souta must have seen the consternation flit across her face. "Don't worry Kagome. You'll see my next competition. This one was only for the school club anyway, so it wasn't that big."  
  
"I know, Souta, but I still feel bad I wasn't there to see you win," she said, eyes serious.  
  
"Ne, Kagome, daijoubu yo! You need to help Inu-Yasha!" Souta insisted.  
  
"Souta is right, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi smiled serenely at her distraught daughter. "You have a much more important destiny before you right now. We understand that and support you as best we can."  
  
Kagome felt tears start to form in her eyes as she looked back and forth between her mother and Souta. "Arigatou," she said softly.  
  
Souta, never one for sadness, quickly changed the subject. "We're having a celebration tonight, Kagome! Mama is making me a big cake and a whole batch of yakimo!"  
  
"Yakimo…?" The very thought of her mother's cooking made Kagome's mouth water. Especially after a week of stale packaged ramen, potato chips and Toppo around the campfire. The Toppo, of course, hadn't lasted long, thanks to Shippou and Inu-Yasha. She hadn't really let herself realize how much she had missed her mother's cooking, focusing instead on directing her energy towards tracing shikon shards.  
  
"Hai!" Souta grinned. "We were hoping you might show up, so Mama made a whole lot! Hey, is Inu-Yasha here too?"  
  
"Iie, Inu-Yasha, uh… he's… he's busy at home right now," Kagome said quickly. She didn't want to think about Inu-Yasha right now. Sadly, as much as she had missed her family, he was a major part of the reason she had chosen to come home.  
  
Before Souta had a chance to reply, Kagome's grandfather hobbled into the kitchen. "Ne, Kagome, back for a while? Is the dog with you?"  
  
Kagome sighed, wondering why everyone always assumed that she and Inu- Yasha were joined at the hip. It was even worse whenever she was back in the Sengoku Jidai. Ordinarily she didn't mind much, but after this last fight, well, she'd had enough of Inu-Yasha for a while. Maybe a month. Or at least until he came crawling back to her in abject submission, profusely apologizing for being a major asshole of the highest order. She snorted to herself. If she were stupid enough to set her standards that high, she'd be waiting twenty years or more for that to occur. Hell, she'd have kids in college by the time Inu-Yasha felt like apologizing on his own. Well, then she'd just avoid him for a week. Let him stew in silence and worry about whether she'd be coming back. It'd serve him right, anyway.  
  
"Kagome?" Her reverie was quickly broken by the waving motion of her jii-chan's hand inches from her nose.  
  
"Gomen, jii-chan," Kagome gave herself a little shake and plastered a cheerful smile on her face. "No, Inu-Yasha is staying in his own time while I visit with you guys and get my studying done."  
  
"Oh!" her grandfather's face lit up like a florescent bulb at her last remark. "I've been meaning to tell you, Kagome… Lately it has been getting more difficult to find new kinds of sicknesses for your absence at school—"  
  
Oh gods, I don't want to know where this is going… Kagome groaned inwardly.  
  
"—So the last time that boy called, Hoto-kun or was it Hito…?"  
  
"You mean Hojo?!" Kagome interrupted, a sudden rush of panic flooding through her. "When did he call? What did he want? Is he suspicious about anything?"  
  
But her grandfather continued talking, unfazed. He'd been practicing that selective deafness of his again. Kagome smacked a hand to her forehead.  
  
"… So I told him that you were actually close to recovered from your nasty bout of meningitus erg, can't spell!, but that you were too busy to come to school because of your new career as an actress in commercials."  
  
"NANI!?!?" Kagome was two inches from collapsing on the floor in horror. Even Souta and Mrs. Higurashi stopped and stared at him in astonishment.  
  
Jii-chan laughed heartily, completely oblivious to his granddaughter's reaction. "I can't believe I never thought of that one before. What a perfect idea it is, Kagome! A perfectly legitimate excuse for you to not be at school—"  
  
"Jii-chan, this is worse than suffering from colon cancer!" Kagome barked, veins beginning to pop in her forehead. "What do you think this is, Kodomo no Omocha?! Do I look like I'm going to appear on any television commercials anytime soon?!"  
  
Jii-chan huffed indignantly. "I've always thought you would make a great spokesperson for that soy sauce brand your mother always cooks with. All you need to do is take some time off from helping Inu-Yasha and go audition and I'm sure they'd—"  
  
"JII-CHAN!!!"  
  
  
  
Kagome flopped on the living room sofa and heaved a huge sigh. Aside from her grandfather's frustrating tactics for "helping" her, the rest of the day had gone smoothly enough. Dinner had been absolutely delicious, the experience all the more heightened by Souta's heartfelt pleasure at his earlier success of the day. Seeing everyone around her so happy and smiling had put a damper on her anger at her grandfather's latest disaster. How pointless it was to be cross with him. He was only trying to help, after all.  
  
With a resigned smile, Kagome reached for the television remote control and pushed the power button on. The TV burst to life in a flash of blue and immediately displayed a little girl greedily digging into her food while her mother stood by, looking endearingly at her daughter.  
  
"Oh what a yummy taste in my mouth!"  
  
The mother leaned over her little darling with a wide smile, and pointed to a dark bottle just to the left of the girl's plate. "That's because I made your food with Onagi Soy Sauce!"  
  
The same sauce that Mrs. Higurashi cooked with.  
  
"Grrr!" Kagome quickly changed the channel. Commercials, indeed!  
  
After watching a few music videos, including the latest from pop idols hitomi and Love Psychedelico, she flipped to the news to reacquaint herself with the events of the modern world. After all, she didn't want to look like a complete idiot in school tomorrow when people started talking about the latest situations.  
  
"Tonight in Tokyo, a strange killing occurred in a park outside of the—"  
  
Kagome shook her head in disgust. It always amazed her that people could believe the past was more violent when things like this occurred in the present day all the time.  
  
"—Appears to be a ritualistic killing of some kind, using what seems to be an older style weapon from Japan's history—"  
  
"Ugh, too depressing!" muttered Kagome and switched the channel again. She ended up settling for a rerun of "Love Again," a drama that her friend Yuki had been addicted to for ages. Unfortunately, since it had been literally months since she'd last seen the show, she had no idea what was going on, or even who some of the people were. With a last sigh, she turned off the television. It flashed brightly for an instance before shutting off with an emphatic "blip!" Kagome stared at the blank screen for a moment, her thoughts drifting aimlessly.  
  
Would Inu-Yasha be pacing in frustration yet? she wondered almost wistfully. Alarmed by the tenor of her thoughts, she vehemently shook her head. Nope, no way. He's probably refusing to talk to anyone, sitting in his tree, feeling abused. The hell with him, anyway. I'm not going back for a while. If he wants me, he can come get me!  
  
Her face started to heat up at her own choice of words.  
  
Kuso!  
  
What was it about him that made it impossible for her to focus on anything else—other than Shikon shards—especially whenever they were apart? There had to be something wrong with her. That's it, one too many demons trying to kill her had finally put her over the edge. Oh why couldn't she just be happy with someone nice and sweet and attentive like Hojo?  
  
You know perfectly well why, Higurashi Kagome, her mind told her pointedly. As nice as he is, Hojo bores you to tears. Even Shippou is more interesting than Hojo. Not that there's anything wrong with Shippou, but he's just a kid. And that should tell you something, Kagome.  
  
Oh shut up, she told herself in exasperation. Enough pointless thinking. Time to go study for the History exam on Wednesday, and see what new schoolwork piled up for tomorrow.  
  
With a resigned shrug, she hoisted herself off the couch and headed to her room.  
  
  
  
"Ne, Inu-Yasha, where is Kagome?"  
  
"Hmph, how should I know?! I'm not her goddamn keeper!" Inu-Yasha shifted uneasily on the large branch and folded his arms grumpily over his chest. He regarded the little kitsune with a warning gaze.  
  
As usual, Shippou chose not to take the hint. "What did you say to her this time, baka?!"  
  
"What makes you think I have anything to do with— OW! What the f&#$ are you doing?!" he reached up and tried to yank the little youkai off his ear, which Shippou had latched onto like a blood-sucking parasite.  
  
Shippou held on for dear life, refusing to relinquish his grip. "Go apologize to Kagome!"  
  
"Let go of my ears, you little brat!" Inu-Yasha snarled. He bopped the kitsune on the head with as much strength as he could muster.  
  
"Oooohf…" Shippou's eyes started spinning around drunkenly in his head. He slid onto Inu-Yasha's lap.  
  
"Feh, serves you right for attacking my ears, runt!"  
  
  
  
"Don't tell me… they're at it again, right?" a resigned sigh came from behind Sango.  
  
She looked up from the repair job she'd been performing on the yukata Kaede had just handed her and met the houshi's lavender eyes.  
  
"Of course," Sango shrugged, dropping her gaze back down to the blunt needle in her hand, enmeshed in dull green fabric.  
  
Before her, the small fire burned merrily. Since Kagome's departure this afternoon, Sango had gone out of her way to help out in Kaede's village. She had helped Kaede prepare dried herbs for healing salves, washed her taiji-ya's outfit, and finally offered to help mend any clothing Kaede had set aside in the pile by her door. Now she sat quietly in front of Kaede's hut, several hundred yards away from Inu-Yasha's tree refuge, watching the wavelike motion of the needle as it wove in and out of the fabric.  
  
Swiftly, Miroku moved to her right and silently seated himself beside her. She kept her eyes focused on the dull gray needle in her right hand, wondering how the houshi was able to move so softly and gracefully, especially burdened with a staff and the clinking beads of the rosary twisted around his hand. The hand that held the life-ending black hole, the kazaana. She could see it out of the corner of her eye, resting uneasily over his knee. She swallowed, and diverted her glance. For some reason, the very thought of the time-bomb ticking away in the houshi's right hand depressed her. Strange, given that she'd traveled with Miroku and the others for a while now, and the kazaana and its symbolism had been an accepted, unpleasant reality. Her mind dwelled no longer on the kazaana than it did on the long scar on her back. But tonight, bereft of Kagome's cheerful presence, her thoughts grew dark. Inu-Yasha's sulky vigil in the treetops only compounded her black mood.  
  
Something feels wrong tonight, unnatural. The calm before the storm. Her muscles stiffened in resolve. I can feel it. Please Kagome-chan, come back soon!  
  
  
  
From his vantage point to her right, Miroku quietly observed the stone visage of his companion. Her face, usually the color of pure, unblemished ivory, was pale and drawn. Her expressive dark eyes, which even under the best of circumstances held a tinge of sadness and pain, were hollow and flat. Miroku felt a frown pull on his lips, wrinkling his forehead into a V. Sango wasn't usually this anxious or edgy, not even in her worst moments of dark introspection. During those times, he preferred to stay out of her way, not wanting to intrude on her privacy, or, more importantly, allow himself to become further haunted by the silent agony in her eyes. Lately, it had gotten harder and harder to continue turning a blind eye to her pain—pain that so often mirrored his own. The wound rosary on his right hand was a constant reminder of that.  
  
Sango, what is it that's bothering you tonight? he couldn't keep himself from wondering. This isn't normal. Perhaps I should say something…  
  
A sharp protest from his back momentarily saved him from his musings. He shifted his weight, trying to find a more comfortable position for his ever- aching back. Stupid body. All the battering he'd been taking lately was finally starting to wear him down. Glancing discreetly at Sango, he wondered whether the physical toll of their journey was affecting her as well.  
  
Probably, he thought dryly, studying her emotionless face. She is strong, this taiji-ya of ours, willingly submitting herself daily to physical hardship and abuse without complaint. Like the rest of us, she never breathes a word about her discomfort.  
  
He felt his throat constrict for a moment. "Our taiji-ya?" Where the hell did that come from, Miroku?  
  
Annoyed with himself, he gazed into the fire, listening to the snap and pops of the wood as it curled around the flames like a lover.  
  
Lover. A dark smile briefly crossed his lips. The thoughts in your head lately, baka! Pointless, silly thoughts that will never come to fruition at the rate things are going right now.  
  
He looked at his hand again.  
  
And quickly turned to meet Sango's dark gaze. Surprised at being caught, the taiji-ya's cheeks turned a rosy pink. Miroku found himself smiling affectionately at her.  
  
Ha ha, caught you, Sango.  
  
He waited for her to avert her eyes, like she always did. The seconds ticked by, but Sango's gaze didn't waver from his. For some crazy reason, he felt his heart speed up.  
  
"Sango, what's wrong?" he said lightly, trying to squelch the strange feeling that overcame him as her dark eyes held his.  
  
"Houshi-sama…" her voice was low, hesitant. "I— uh, I was wondering if you sense anything… strange."  
  
His brow furrowed. "Now?"  
  
She nodded imperceptibly. "It's probably just me, but—"  
  
"Hmm…"  
  
Now that he thought about it, there was something strange.  
  
Sango voiced his next thoughts. "It's not youkai. I'm not sensing anything directly threatening us at all, just… I don't know, tension. Foreboding, like something is going to happen."  
  
She blushed as he looked at her appraisingly. "You think I'm crazy, ne?" her eyes darted around the fireside, looking at the sewing needle, his staff, a moth hovering over the flames—anything but him.  
  
Miroku felt something warm spread inside of him as he watched her struggle to hide her embarrassment. He loved it when he could get a rise in her, but this was somehow far more endearing to him than her fury at finding his hand on her rear. He blinked in surprise. What was this feeling washing over him… affection? He didn't have time for this—neither of them did. But he couldn't help himself.  
  
"Sango," he laid a hand on her shoulder. Her head jerked up; startled, accusing eyes met his own.  
  
As much as Miroku would have liked to move his hand to more appetizing places, he held firm. "Sango," he said again, "I don't think you're crazy. I understand what you mean. It feels like someone's holding their breath, waiting for something terrible to happen."  
  
"Hai," she nodded.  
  
The suspicion had disappeared from her gaze. Instead, she was looking at him calmly, a spark of… dare he say gratitude, dancing in the depths of her eyes. Whatever emotion it was shining in her eyes, it was too damn disarming. He needed to retreat, before he did something they'd both regret. Fortunately, he had the perfect escape at hand…  
  
"Houshi-sama!?"  
  
The staccato sound of a hard slap against flesh echoed through the night air.  
  
  
  
Inu-Yasha turned his head in the direction of the village and shook his head.  
  
"Are those two at it again?" Shippou was incredulous.  
  
Inu-Yasha scowled, "That sukebe bouzu can't keep his hands to himself. You've seen him in action enough times."  
  
Shippou sighed, and plunked down on a smaller branch above Inu-Yasha's head. "Baka."  
  
"Yup."  
  
They both shook their heads.  
  
Inu-Yasha looked up at the darkened sky, his eyes darting from star to star.  
  
Kagome… please come back soon.  
  
  
  
Glossary of Japanese terms:  
  
Konnichi wa—way of saying "hello"  
  
Onee-chan—informal way of saying "sister"  
  
Kendo—basically the Japanese version of fencing  
  
Daijoubu—"it's okay, it's alright" (the "yo" means exclamation, as opposed to "ka" which is a question mark)  
  
Arigatou—thank you  
  
Yakimo—Japanese dish, not sure what it is (was trying to think of some kind of food and I remembered yakimo from CatWho's fic, "Rain," so I went with it)  
  
Toppo—these are snacks in Japan, they are so yummy! It's like a pretzel stick filled with chocolate.  
  
Hai—more formal way of saying "yes" (I think…)  
  
Iie—"no"  
  
Ne—at the end of a sentence, it means "isn't that right?"; but at the beginning, it means "hey"  
  
Jii-chan—kind of like saying "gramps"  
  
Gomen—informal way of saying "I'm sorry"  
  
Nani—"what?"  
  
Kodomo no Omocha—means "Child's Toy"; for those who haven't seen it, it's a crazy fun anime about a young girl who is a famous child actress on the show, "Child's Toy." I was just making a silly reference, is all. Gomen ne!  
  
Onagi soy sauce—yup, I made it up! I wasn't sure if they use Kikkoman in Japan… so…  
  
"Love Again"—a really popular soap opera kind of show in Japan. My friend here is obsessed with it. Since I haven't seen it, though, I really don't know much about it.  
  
Kuso—basically means "damn" or "shit." It's a shortened version of the real word (don't remember what it is though, since no one seems to use the full version… chikuso?)  
  
Kitsune—"fox spirit" (at least that's close…)  
  
Baka—"fool" or "idiot"  
  
Youkai—"demon"  
  
Yukata—a spring kimono, made of a lighter fabric than a regular kimono  
  
Houshi—lower ranking Buddhist priest  
  
Taiji-ya—demon huntress  
  
Kazaana—"air rip"  
  
sidenote: did you know that Sango's name means "coral"? And I read somewhere that Kohaku means "amber", haha  
  
Houshi-sama—very polite and formal way of addressing said lower ranking priest  
  
Sukebe—"perverted"  
  
Bouzu—rude term for monk  
  
Wow, I guess I know more Japanese than I thought! ^_^ Anyway, did anyone notice my pun about Miroku's "escape at hand"…? Heh heh heh. I know, I have problems. I hadn't even realized the significance when I first wrote that. Anyway, this chapter is just to set the stage. The next one won't be up for a week or two, I'm afraid to say, since finals are next week, and I don't feel like dying this quarter, so… Till next time! Also, PLEASE review! Let me know what you think of this so far, what you liked, what you didn't like. Any flames send directly to my email (although I hope I won't get many…). Thanks for reading my first attempt! ^_^ 


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